Islands, Bridges, Boats

Arrived in Stockholm without any hiccups accept our own incompetence at how to exit the metro to get to street level. Just goes to show you, when you live in California with ‘0’ public transport those skills are relatively nonexistent. With the help of strangers who are somewhat friendly we found our way off the tracks and into our modest hotel room in the heart of old town Stockholm, otherwise known as Gamla Stan.

Our first venture out we took a ferry to the island of Djurgarden to visit the Skansen which is essentially an open air museum dedicated to the preservation of traditional architecture throughout the Scandinavian countries. It’s kind of a combination of preserved history of culture and buildings along with a zoo featuring Nordic animals such as moose, bears and reindeer along with a Nordic fox or two.

From there we went on to visit the Vasa Museum which for the Swedish is the equivalent of a “Titanic flop.” It’s a ship that took years to build and was launched in 1628. It was intended to rival it’s most powerful rival, Poland. However, seven days after it was launched, it sank due to moderate winds and faulty engineering. It has been painstakingly restored and the museum makes honorable tributes through films and tours that chronicle a time in history of a city committed to securing its safety and well-being.

Then it started raining . . but we were prepared with rain jackets and climbed aboard our ferry to get back home.